The First Real Battle of Techniques
Xiao Mingshu glanced at him, nodded slightly, and stepped aside, making room for him.
The next instant, Shen Jingchuan heard her clear, cold voice, using a cultivator's secret telepathic transmission technique:
"Silly brother, how can cultivators only defend and never attack in a battle? In a life-or-death struggle, the slightest carelessness can lead to death and the annihilation of one's cultivation. There is absolutely no room for mercy. Is all you know how to do is defend?"
Shen Jingchuan's heart skipped a beat, and he instantly came to his senses. He had never truly fought a cultivator before, and his instinct was to first stabilize his defense before launching an attack.
Awakened by Xiao Mingshu's words, he immediately realized that the current situation was a life-or-death struggle, and there was no room for mercy.
He nodded slightly, his gaze returning to the three elders opposite him. The metal elemental Spiritual Qi within his body, which had been used only to maintain his shield, suddenly shifted from a defensive stance to a full offensive one.
He silently activated the [Geng Metal Arrow and Shield Instruction], and golden light suddenly shone from his fingertips. Three golden arrows, each about a foot long and Spiritual Qi with a cold light, instantly formed and shot straight at Chen Mo, who was at the head of the group.
Chen Mo was raising his hand to continue with Fireball Technique when he suddenly saw the opponent switch from a defensive stance to an offensive one. He was taken aback at first, then his face showed disdain.
In his view, how much power could an attack hastily unleashed by a Rogue Cultivator have? He casually cast a yellowish-brown Spiritual Qi shield, thinking he could easily block it, but the moment the golden arrow struck the shield, his expression changed drastically.
The golden arrow contained an astonishingly sharp Spiritual Qi; the thick earthen shield was instantly pierced and dented, with cracks spreading rapidly, as if it were made of paper.
"Not good!" Chen Mo felt a chill in his heart and subconsciously tried to take out a defensive talisman from his Storage Ring, but it was too late. The three golden arrows had already completely pierced through the earthen shield and, with a sharp gust of wind, went straight into his chest.
"Puff--"
Blood gushed out instantly. Chen Mo's eyes widened in disbelief. He swayed twice before collapsing to the ground, dead on the spot.
The turn of events was swift as lightning, and the entire arena fell into a deathly silence.
Wu Feng and Zheng Hai, who were watching the commotion with their arms crossed, froze on their faces before they could even wipe the sneers off.
The two stared intently at Chen Mo's corpse on the ground, their minds blank—Senior Brother Chen, Qi Refining Fourth Layer, had been instantly killed in one move? How could this be? That kid was clearly also Qi Refining Fourth Layer, how could he possess such terrifying attack power?
Xiao Mingyuan and Xiao Mingxuan, who were not far away, also changed their expressions completely.
Just moments before, Xiao Mingyuan had been brimming with confidence, assuming that the three elders would easily capture Shen Jingchuan. Now, his pupils constricted, and he instinctively took a few steps back, exclaiming in shock:
"How is this possible?! Chen Mo is Qi Refining Fourth Layer cultivator hired by the Prince's Mansion at great expense, how could he not even withstand a single move?"
Xiao Mingxuan had lost his previous arrogance and haughtiness. His face was pale, and he gripped the hilt of his sword tightly, his palms sweating profusely.
He hadn't expected that while his opponent had been clumsily defending, he would be killed in a single move in the blink of an eye.
He had never witnessed cultivators fighting before, and had no idea that the golden arrow was so powerful.
Lin Weiyuan and Lin Shan, who were being held aside, were already dumbfounded.
The father and son stood there, mouths agape, unable to utter a single word for a long time. They had previously assumed that Shen Jingchuan was simply a wealthy young master with some family background and a kung fu skill.
Even though he had just heard that he was a cultivator, he didn't really feel it until he saw a flash of golden light and a royal immortal master die on the spot. Only then did he truly realize that his son-in-law was actually a highly skilled person who was hiding his abilities.
Just then, Lin Yue arrived, panting heavily. He was much slower than Shen Jingchuan and the others, and just as he reached the entrance of the escort agency, he witnessed the scene of Chen Mo lying on the ground with a golden arrow piercing his chest.
He stopped abruptly, frozen in place, his eyes wide open, his mind buzzing:
This... this is Shen Jingchuan? My usually gentle and mild-mannered brother-in-law? When did he acquire such immortal master skills?
Before everyone could recover from their shock, Shen Jingchuan had already activated the [Geng Metal Arrow and Shield Instruction] once again.
He didn't have any fancy fighting techniques; he only recognized that this Cultivation Method was sharp and effective (mainly because he didn't know anything else). With another flash of golden light at his fingertips, three more golden arrows whistled out, heading straight for Wu Feng on the left.
Wu Feng snapped back to his senses, terrified out of his wits. He hurriedly pulled out a low-grade Vajra Talisman from his Ring, channeled his Spiritual Power, and the talisman burned away, instantly creating a pale golden shield in front of him.
"Clang! Clang! Clang!"
Three crisp sounds rang out in succession as the golden arrow slammed into the light shield, instantly causing cracks to spread across its entire surface.
The low-grade Vajra Talisman lasted only a moment before shattering with a crash.
Fortunately, Wu Feng took advantage of this brief respite to quickly activate his spiritual Spiritual Qi to add another layer of protection, barely managing to block the attack. However, he was still shaken so badly that his Qi and Blood surged, and he staggered back several steps.
On the other side, Zheng Hai saw that Shen Jingchuan's attention was entirely focused on Wu Feng. A ruthless glint flashed in his eyes. He secretly formed hand seals, condensing a ball of blazing fire, intending to launch a sneak attack when Shen Jingchuan was off guard.
But just as his fireball was halfway condensed, Shen Jingchuan flicked his wrist, and three brand-new golden arrows changed direction, hurtling straight toward his face with an even sharper whistle.
Zheng Hai's heart skipped a beat, realizing something was wrong. He had no defensive talismans and couldn't quickly conjure a decent shield, so he gritted his teeth and pushed the fireball he had just condensed forward, intending to fight fire with fire and use offense as defense to buy himself some breathing room.
But as soon as the fireball collided with the golden arrow, it was instantly shattered by the sharp golden spiritual Spiritual Qi, without even the slightest resistance.
The three golden arrows, still powerful, shot straight toward his heart.
Zheng Hai tried his best to dodge to the side, but even so, two golden arrows pierced his left shoulder. Blood instantly soaked through his clothes, and he groaned in pain, staggering and falling to the ground, unable to stand up again.
Seeing this scene, Wu Feng felt a chill run down his spine. He knew all too well that although the Qi Refining Third Layer seemed to be only one small realm apart, they were actually a formidable chasm between the Early Stage of Qi Refining.
Upon reaching the Qi Refining Fourth Layer, one develops Divine Sense and can barely fly on a sword. The total amount of Spiritual Qi is far greater than that of the third level.
Even a cultivator at the Qi Refining Fourth Layer of Chen Mo Refining was instantly killed in one move. With his current cultivation level, going up there would be nothing short of suicide.
With a change of heart, he lost all desire to fight and only hoped to escape alive.
Wu Feng gritted his teeth and mustered all his strength to condense a fireball, which he hurled at Shen Jingchuan. Taking advantage of the fireball obscuring his vision, he turned and dashed out of the courtyard.
He couldn't fly on his sword yet, so he could only run wildly, hoping to escape this hellish place in the chaos.
However, after these two rounds of combat, Shen Jingchuan had already figured out the workings of the [Geng Metal Arrow and Shield Instruction], and was no longer the novice who could only defend at the beginning.
Seeing the fireball approaching, he neither dodged nor avoided it. With a slight thought, he separated half of his metal elemental Spiritual Qi and condensed it into a golden shield in front of him.
With a muffled "boom," the fireball struck the shield and exploded, sending waves of heat surging forth.
Instead of retreating, Shen Jingchuan advanced. At the same time, the remaining Spiritual Qi rapidly gathered at his fingertips, condensing into a gleaming golden arrow.